Ski binding



Sept. 26, 1967 RYOJI TOKI 3,343,346

SKI BINDING Filed June 9, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENITOR. RVOJI TOKI n-r-roRNEYS United States Patent 3,343,846 SKI BINDING Ryoji Toki, 3897 Kamitsuruma, Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan Filed June 9, 1966, Ser. No. 556,424 1 Claim. (C1. 28011.35)

The present invention relates .to ski-shoe toe bindings in which if any excessive tension is caused by any overturn and the like of the ski during the use of the ski, the binding provides a safety effect by automatically releasing the ski shoes from the ski.

Such bindings which have hitherto been used have the shoe toe holder fixed at a main unit which is moved either in a direction to the left or to the right along with the said unit so that when it receives an excessive force in another direction other than the left or right direction the foot is rest-rained and is not released from the ski, which may be dangerous and accidents such as a fracture of the bones of the user are caused.

Moreover, if the main unit is once turned, a set screw is loosened and adjusted as it was. This must be quite disadvantageous.

Futhermore, high and low adjustment of the toe holder is carried out by revolving the main unit itself which is set to a vertical shaft of a base plate, and it is pro vided with a device for preventing movement of the main unit from the outside so that its adjusting operation is quite troublesome and its structure is very complicated.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above defect of a conventional binding and to provide a structure of a toe holder which can freely be turned to any optional direction such as upward, left and right. A binding according to the present invention never restrains the foot under any circumstances, automatically performs a safety action and is easily set to its original state.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the structure showing the structure of the ski binding in the invention of which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view, FIG. 2 is a side view, FIG. 3 is the cross-section view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a bottom view, FIG. 5 is a rear view and FIGS. 6 (A), (B) and (C) are side and rear views illustrating an example of the turnover condition of the boot toe holder.

The same reference numeral in each figure shows the same part in the drawings. 1 is the main unit of the binding. 2 is a semi-spherical recess provided at the center of a rear part of the main unit, 3 is an inserting recess for a small ball 11 which is slideable in said recess and which recess extends to the central part of the front of said main unit and has a spiral spring 12 therein, and threads 3 are provided for receiving adjusting screw 13.

4 is a turnover ball forming a part of the back of the main unit and is freely movable in said semi-spherical recess 2. 4a is a lock recess in ball 4 for receiving said small ball 11 and 5 is a supporting plate for retaining said ball 4 in recess 2, but with an opening 5a exposing flat part 4' from the center of the turnover ball 4 and plate 5 is fixed at the back of the main unit 1 by screws 6, 6.

7 is a fitting plate for the toe holder 9 which is set by screw 8 to the back flat part 4' of the turnover ball 4 and it has a serrated face 7a to which the toe holder 9 is connected and adjustably fitted by screws 10, 10.

3,343,846 Patented Sept. 26, 1967 9a is a groove in toe holder 9 for receiving the screw 10 for adjusting the high and low positions of the toe holder by means of connection with said serrations and 9 is a stopping piece for the tip of the ski shoes.

14 is a base plate provided with tap holes 14a, 14 1 for fixing it to the ski and it is secured by screws 15 to the lower face of the main unit 1.

The ski binding according to the present invention is composed by the above structure and characterized by the ball 4 being freely moveable so that the toe holder 9 can be turned to any desired and optional direction.

Namely, the ball 4 is inserted in the semi-spherical recess 2 at the center of the back of the main unit 1 and the supporting plate is attached to the back of the main body 1 by screws 6, 6, so that said ball 4 is maintained in the main unit and cannot be released.

This small ball 11 penetrates into the lock hole 4a, and is retained therein by the spiral spring 12 pressed by the adjusting screw 13. Therefore, movement of the ball 4 is restrained by this press adjusting device.

Furthermore, when an excess tension is acted against the toe holder 9 provided at the back flat part 4, the ball 4 releases from the small ball 11 connected to the lock hole 4a and turns in any desired direction with the toe holder 9, which then moves off the tip of the shoes the stopping piece 9' of the toe holder.

The ball 4 can be turned to any optional direction freely so that under any circumstances of turning over of the ski the foot is not restrained and turned over therewith.

The illustrations of the function of the present device in FIG. 6 illustrates a condition (A) in which the toe holder turns upward, a condition (B) in which the toe holder turns to the left direction and a condition (C) in which the toe holder turns to the right direction. Besides the above cases, said toe holder can be turned in any optional direction such as a slanting direction and leaves the foot free by releasing the ski shoe from the stopping piece 9' can thus be adjusted. This function can freely be present invention is remarkable and can never be obtained by any conventional ski binding.

Accordingly, when the binding of the present invention is used, any dangerous accident such as occurs by overturning when skiing can be prevented and safe skiing is enjoyed with reassurance.

Futhermore, the binding of the present invention can easily be adjusted to its original position by means of connection of ball 4 with the small ball 11 if the recess 4a is moved to the regular position shown in FIG. 3 without loosening the set screw 13*.

Next, the toe holder 9 is mounted on the fitting plate 7 provided on the back of the ball 4, wherein the serrations 7a formed on the opposed faces of the toe holder 9 and plate 7 can be connected at an optional position and the high and low positions of the stopping piece 9' can thus be adjusted. This function can freely be carried out along the length of the groove hole 9a by the screws 10, 10, and said stopping piece 9' can easily be positioned at the height of the shoe tip.

The main unit 1 as a mechanism described above is set on the base board 14 secured to a ski in a fixed state, so that it is stable and perfectly safe without any shaking during skiing.

As explained above in detail, the present invention comprises a mechanism wherein a ball provided with a shoe toe holder is adjustable to high and low positions, is moveably inserted in a main unit and pressed by an adjustable pressing device. The present invention has a remarkable feature as a ski binding for holding a shoe tip positively and for releasing it safely.

The embodiment of the invention in which an exelusive property or privilege is claimed is defined as follows:

A ski-shoe toe binding comprising a main unit having a spherical recess at one end and a central recess at its opposite end, a ball slideably positioned in said semispherical recess and having a locking recess therein, a small ball slideably positioned in said central recess, a spring tending to move said small ball into said ball locking recess, and adjusting screw in said central recess tending to compress said spring, a supporting plate attached to said main unit and having an opening with a 4 portion of said first ball extending therethrough and retaining said first ball in said send-spherical recess, a fitting plate fixedly attached to said first ball extended portion, a toe piece positioned on said fitting plate and means adjustably connecting said fitting plate to said toe piece.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,258,274 6/1966 Beecher 1 .80-11.35

FOREIGN PATENTS 680,561 2/1964- Canada.

BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner.

JAMES H. BRANNEN, Assistant Examiner. 

